Most Helpful Customer Reviews

I just finished watching the extended version and it was like watching a whole new film! In every way, this version is superior. The thirty extra minutes are not wasted. The characters are fleshed out, the battles seem more desparate and the agony of the journey both to Rivendale and beyond is made plain. I urge anyone who hasn't already purchased the theater version to skip it and get the extended one instead. Anyone who already has the theater version.....well this one is definately worth forking out the extra dough to get.

A cinematic version of Tolkien's THE LORD OF THE RINGS ranks up with the hope that Lucas will indeed make another Star Wars Trilogy, and, I think I can safely say, this is one of the most anticipated films in the movie industry's long and checkered history. You would think it's movie paradise, considering Lucas has been in the midst of another Star Wars trilogy and LORD OF THE RINGS has finally got a cinema deal (live action!), but PHANTOM MENACE proved something of a disappointment (Mesa Jar Jar Binks!), and I think quite a few people will enter into the theatre with a certain amount of trepidation.There's a reason for that. Three animated Tolkien films have been released with very problematic results. The 1978 Bakshi release is just embarrassing; the film is both incoherent and confusing.Rankin & Bass's two movies are fine for little kids; those two films are Tolkien for Saturday Morning cartoons. They proved my introduction to Tolkien and for that I am thankful, but the movies still fail to capture the grandeur of Tolkien's imagination.There are two things to consider here about a work of literature. Although all good literature has a polarization effect on its readers, this work has a gigantic legion of followers which are extremely dedicated to Tolkien's vision (I count myself a member of this camp). The other camp cannot figure out what the big fuss is about and why they should care about the novel.Now, there's a reason why all this is relevant to the film: had Peter Jackson gone to far either way the film would have fallen apart. Appeal to much to the fan-base and you loose the general movie-goer. Appeal to much to the movie-goer, and you'll lose the fan-base.Read more ›

Considered both as fantasy adventure and as an adaptation of a beloved literary classic, Peter Jackson's film of "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" sets new standards for cinematic excellence. Everything about this film feels exactly right, from the casting to the screenplay to the special effects. The last are amazing, putting to shame anything George Lucas has come up with, and yet they always serve to advance the story; unlike Lucas, there's never any hint that Jackson is merely playing with his toys. Jackson shows great respect for Tolkien's text, but not slavish devotion. Certain characters--such as the lovable Tom Bombadil and Frodo's poisonous Aunt Lobelia--are missing, and Tolkien would be chagrined to find that the little poems and songs he loved to write are nowhere quoted. But if Jackson gives short shrift to Tolkien's whimsy, he more than makes up for that by giving us Tolkien's intensity, pathos and moral vision absolutely undiluted. Above all, Jackson never forgets that Tolkien's chief emphasis was always on the characters he created. Jackson casts wonderful actors to play those characters and--again unlike Lucas--he actually allows them to give performances. How wonderful to find the great Sir Ian McKellen, a uniquely commanding and charismatic actor, as Gandalf, or the charming and touching Elijah Wood as Frodo. You can go straight down the list--Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn, Sean Astin as Sam, Ian Holm as Bilbo, Cate Blanchett as Galadriel--and find nothing but perfection. This is one of the very few big-budget blockbusters that unqualifiedly deserves its success, and all we can do now is look forward with excitement to the release of "The Two Towers" in 2002 and "The Return of the King" in 2003. Like the books they came from, these three fillms will be cherished by future generations.

AWESOME is the one word I can think of to describe this instant classic.But I am not here to extol the wonders of "The Fellowship of the Ring" as much as to clarify the confusion some reviewers might have out there. What I want to clarify is this: Yes, New Line Cinema is releasing 3 versions of FOTR.The first is the theatrical cut (meaning: the exact same movie that you saw in theaters) on August 6. This is a 2-disc set that includes the specials "Welcome to Middle Earth" (by Houghton-Mifflin), "Passage to Middle Earth" (Sci-Fi channel behind-the-scenes special, and "The Quest for the Ring" (Fox special)....Then you have the 4-disc Special Extended Edition (*which is what this DVD is*) which includes an additional 30 minutes of footage incorporated into the film. The add'l scenes include more Aragorn back story, more "character moments," and a slightly different introduction to hobbits as narrated by Bilbo Baggins. Discs 1 & 2 are the film and commentaries of more than 30 participants including Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian McKellen, Howard Shore and much more. Discs 3 and 4 contain over 6 hours of in-depth behind-the-scenes footage. Disc 3 is "From Book to Vision" which explores the screenplay, design, special effects, costumes, armory, locations, storyboards, etc. Disc 4 is "From Vision to Reality" with features such as "Bringing Characters to Life," "A Day in the Life of a Hobbit," "Principal Photography: Stories from the Set," as well as picture galleries and much more!The 3rd version is the Collectors Gift Set (also released on November 12th) which includes the Special Extended Edition DVD, 2 collectible Argonath bookends and The National Geographic special DVD - "Beyond the Movie."So the question is: how big of a fan are you?Read more ›